Greenland's ice sheet is now melting in ways never seen before, with extreme events becoming more frequent, widespread, and intense. Since 1990, meltwater production has skyrocketed, and most record-breaking events have occurred in recent years.
Lawmakers said the Justice Department has indicated Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon -- a candidate to replace Pam Bondi as attorney general -- will represent her in a transcribed interview later this month, raising ethical concerns.
OpEd: When Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in February that the Defense Department would sever ties with Harvard University, he framed the move as an act of ideological hygiene. Harvard, he suggested, is an incubator of "woke" narratives awash in liberal orthodoxy with faculty that "squelch anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings." Later, the Secretary formally added 13 more institutions to the department's list of "canceled" educational relationships, accusing each of "sacrificing freedom of expression for the suffocating confines of leftist ideology." The ironies and contradictions in the Secretary's logic to purge the military of elite education, respectfully, demand serious discussion.
Reporters Without Borders (or RSF, to use the initialism for its French name, Reporters Sans Frontières) today released the 2026 version of its venerable World Press Freedom Index ... read more
More than two months into a conflict that has failed to deliver a decisive military or diplomatic win, President Donald Trump faces the risk that a standoff with Iran will drag on indefinitely and leave an even bigger problem ... read more
International Humanitarian Law
ihl-databases.icrc.org
... Article 51 - Protection of the civilian population[emphasis mine]
1. The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against dangers arising from military operations. To give effect to this protection, the following rules, which are additional to other applicable rules of international law, shall be observed in all circumstances.
2. The civilian population as such, as well as individual civilians, shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited. ...
Speaking of airports ...
Close call as 2 planes come within 500 feet of each other near JFK Airport
abc7ny.com
... A pilot on a regional Delta Air Lines flight reported a small plane getting too close as the passenger jet approached John F. Kennedy Airport on Monday.
According to air traffic control audio recordings, an air traffic controller warned the pilot of the Delta plane, operated by Endeavor Air, of a personal aircraft, noting that they were not in contact with the small plane, made by Cirrus, and that the plane was about 500 feet above them.
The Endeavor pilot initially told the controller they got a traffic advisory, which alerts pilots of any traffic nearby.
Later, the Endeavor pilot tells the controller they got a resolution advisory, which is a warning from the collision avoidance system which provides pilots with specific instructions to avoid a collision.
However, the RA did not instruct them to maneuver, and to just maintain their position.
Preliminary data from Flightradar24, shows there was about 475 feet of vertical separation between the two aircraft as their paths crossed. ...
That $1B could go a long way to providing security to existing structures should a National Special Security Event be declared. There was no need to destroy the East Wing of the White House, except to assuage Pres Trump's oversized ego.
National Special Security Event
en.wikipedia.org
Why wasn't the WHCD declared to be a National Special Security Event?
Meanwhile ...
Araghchi Heads to China for Key Negotiations
caspianpost.com
... Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to visit Beijing later today for talks.
"During the visit he will meet his Chinese counterpart [Wang Yi] to discuss bilateral ties and regional and international developments," Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement, The Caspian Post reports, citing Al Jazeera.
The meeting comes as the US and Iran remain deadlocked in negotiations to end the crippling Middle East conflict launched by Israel and the US on February 28. ...
Another view ...
UAE accuses Iran of missile, drone attacks
www.upi.com
... The United Arab Emirates activated its missile alert system for the first time since a cease-fire between the United States and Iran in April, accusing Iran of launching missile and drone attacks Monday.
The UAE's Ministry of Defense said its air defense system was "actively engaging" the threats from Iran.
"MOD asserts that the sounds heard across the country are the result of ongoing engaging operations of missiles and" unmanned aerial vehicles, the department said in a post on X.
"The public is urged to remain calm and follow the safety and security instructions issued by relevant authorities."
Officials in Fujairah, UAE, blamed a fire at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone on an Iranian attack. ...
The UAE is just to the south of Iran, on the other side of the Persian Gulf, and has a critical position along the Strait of Hormuz.
It's unclear how the attacks may affect the shaky cease-fire between Iran and the United States. ...
@#106 ... Trump didn't like it, you say, because "the border would then be a non issue."
How's that? It didn't solve the problem. How can anyone claim that? ...
Simple, Candidate Trump campaigned on the border issue. Not solving the border issue was a big political benefit for his campaign.
I am quite surprised you have not seen that.
Indeed, until ICE's actions, Pres Trump's views and actions regarding immigration were a huge political benefit for him in the polls.
Lately, not so much ...
President Trump Job Approval - Immigration
www.realclearpolling.com
...
RCP Average 4/8 - 4/28
Approve: 45.3
Disapprove: 51.9
Spread: -6.6
...
Yeah, Pres Trump used to be in the +5% to +15% area of polling on immigration.
Now, not so much.
He's underwater ...
But I again go back to my #50 post and wonder why you have been deflecting so strenuously from it?
These U.S. industries can't work without illegal immigrants (2019)
www.cbsnews.com
... The nation's attention is once again focused on the southern border, where President Trump claims the U.S. is facing a "crisis" over illegal immigration.
Sometimes forgotten as the nation focuses attention on migrants currently trying to cross the border is that millions of undocumented immigrants continue to live in the U.S. " and most of them work.
And in fact, these workers play vital roles in the U.S. economy, erecting American buildings, picking American apples and grapes, and taking care of American babies. Oh, and paying American taxes.
My work as the director of the Cornell Farmworker Program involves meeting with undocumented workers in New York, and the farmers who employ them. Here's a snapshot of who they are, where they work " and why Americans should care about them.
A snapshot of who they are
Pew Research Center estimates that about 11.3 million people are currently living in the U.S. without authorization, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007. More than half come from Mexico, and about 15 percent come from other parts Latin America.
About 8 million of them have jobs, making up 5 percent of the U.S. workforce, figures that have remained more or less steady for the past decade.
Geographically, these unauthorized workers are spread throughout the U.S. but are unsurprisingly most concentrated in border states like California and Texas, where they make up about 9 percent of both states' workforces, while in Nevada, their share is over 10 percent.
Their representation in particular industries is even more pronounced, and the Department of Agriculture estimates that about half of the nation's farmworkers are unauthorized, while 15 percent of those in construction lack papers -- more than the share of legal immigrants in either industry. In the service sector, which would include jobs such as fast food and domestic help, the figure is about 9 percent. ...
@#80 ... How about we start taxing the uber-wealthy who have, for the past 40 years, been able to dodge their financial responsibilities that provide them with a country that protects them and their money and their property? ...
Mayor Mamdani wants to tax the billionaires who own and profit from secondary investment properties in NYC without paying their fair share to help the City.
Mr Griffin of Citadel seems to have an objection to that prospect.